Shuttle box for embroidered lace machines



P 1968 TSUNEJI MOR! 3,377,970

SHUTTLE BOX FOR EMBROIDERED LACE MACHINES Filed May 25, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2 FIG. 1 IG. 3

April 16, 1968 TSUNEJI MORl SHUTTLE BOX FOR EMBROIDERED LACE MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 25, 1966 United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shuttle box for embroidered lace machines, comprising a shuttle box body having an inclined upper face, a front side plate on one side of said shuttle box body and extending along the shuttle box body and having two slots therein, one near the upper end of the inclined surface and one near the lower end of the inclined surface, said slots having-the upper edge above the level of the inclined surface and having the lower edge no higher than the level of the inclined surface, and a wire guide bar on the other side of said shuttle b'ox having the ends attached to the shuttle box body and having substantially all the portion intermediate the ends at a level above the level of the inclined surface, there being a clearance between the wire and the said inclined surface.

This invention relates to shuttle boxes to be used in embroidered lace machines.

Generally an embroidered lace machine has a length of to yards. In embroidering a piece of cloth in a desired pattern with such a lace machine, a card is punched with a punching machine on the basis of a pattern designed in advance and is fitted to a Jacquard apparatus and a vertical frame of a length substantially equal to that of the lace machine is moved vertically or horizontally by the apparatus. This cloth is fitted onto the frame. For example, in the case of a machine 15 yards long, as many as 1024 embroidering needles are mounted in two upper and lower steps on the front side of the cloth so as to push a front thread into the cloth, usually at a speed of 100 to 140 times/minute. Shuttle boxes are positioned on the back side of the cloth in positions opposed to the embroidering needles. A cop-wound back tread is contained in a shuttle which reciproca'tes on a diagonal surface of each shuttle box.

The front thread is carried by the tip part of the embrodering needle and is formed into a loop in the shuttle box and the shuttle passes through the loop. The front thread and the back thread will thus be connected to each other. Thus the cloth can be embroidered with any desired fine pattern.

In such embroidering steps, for example, when the front thread passes through the hole of the embroidering needle, when the shuttle passes through the loop of the front thread, when the back thread is payed out while being rubbed over a tension adjusting plate provided in the shuttle, or when a hole is made on the cloth with a borer, the fibers of the threads will be broken by friction and, when such an operation is carried out for a long time, a large amount of cotton dust will be produced. Such cotton dust will float and disperse in the air and will gradually settle down and be deposited and accumulated on the sliding surface of the shuttle box.

In a conventional shuttle box, a side plate is fixed to each side of the shuttle box body to serve as a guide so that the shut le will vertically reciprocate correctly on the sliding surface of the shuttle box without deviating laterally. However, because the sliding surface is enclosed with the two side plates, when the cotton dust on the sliding surface is pushed into the corners by the vertical reciprocation of the shuttle, it will not be able to escape, and

3,377,973 Patented Apr. 16, 1968 "ice will be gradually accumulated and packed hard into both corners and will create an external force preventing the smooth vertical reciprocation of the shuttle.

Further, the motion of the shuttle is forcibly continued by a shuttle driver consisting of a shuttle stopping finger and a shuttle driving pin. As a result, the shuttle will not move vertically as intended, and therefore penfect embroidery cannot be made. The shuttle will tear away the front thread without passing through the loop and the lower surface of the head part of the shuttle will be worn so much that it will increase the number of dropped stitches in the embroidery. In an extreme case, the gauge of the shuttle driver will be wrong or will be broken, the embroidering needles will be broken or bent, and the cloth will be broken or damaged.

An object of the present invention is to provide a shuttle box wherein a hole is made in each front side plate where cotton dust is apt to accumulate and a shuttle guide made of such wire, such as piano wire, is mounted on the back side so that cotton dust on the sliding surface of the shuttle box will be prevented from collecting and sticking.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a shuttle box which can be swept effectively and simply in a short period of time without any dead angle by blowing away cotton dust with com-pressed air.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a shuttle box which can prevent such troubles as errors in embroidery, cutting of the thread, wear of the shuttle, breaking of the shuttle driver and breaking or bending of the needles and can contribute greatly to the improvement of the productivity by utilizing a conventional shuttle box and modifying it very little.

Other objects of the present invention will become clear from the following explanation of an embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings in which the same reference numerals are attached to corresponding parts:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of an assembled conventfon'al shuttle box, the parts in which cotton dust is apt to be accumulated being clearly shown;

FIG. 2 is a left side view showing the front side of the shuttle box illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a right side view showing the back side of the shuttle b'ox illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of a shuttle box according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a left side view showing the front side of the shuttle box illustrated in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a right side view showing the back side of the shuttle box illustrated in FIG. 4.

In FIGS. 1 to 6, the shuttle box body 19 consists of a leg part 10a and a diagonal member 10b connected to said leg part 16a and integrally formed therewith, usually by casting. The said leg part 19a is provided with a screw hole 11, and is fixed on a line of the shuttle box as on a machine base by a mounting bolt 49 threaded into the screw hole 11. The pitch of the shuttle boxes is equal to the pitch of the embroidering needles. The upper surface lilc of the diagonal member 10b is a sliding surface on which the shuttle moves vertically, and is finished so as to be fiat and smooth and is provided with a lateral groove 12 forming a passage through which the embroidering needle moves in and out. The shuttle box body is provided with bore holes 13 and 14 parallel with said lateral groove 12 and having their centers on a vertical line extending downwardly from said lateral groove 12.

On the sides of the conventional shuttle box body 10 is a side 20 on the front and a side plate 30 on the back side, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, held by fixing screws 41 so that their upper ends project from the upper surface lfic of the shuttle box body as guides for the shuttles as mentioned above. Both side plates and 30 are plated with hard chromium on the surfaceslthereof or are made of stainless steel so they will not rust. An elevated part 21 is formed on the side plate 20 so that Where such side plates 20 are fixed to the aligned shuttle box bodies, said elevated parts 21 can be connected as if they were horizontally connected belts and a piece of cloth on the frame of the lace machine will be in contact with the surfaces of the elevated parts. Each elevated part 21 is provided with a hole 22 which is opposed to the above mentioned lateral groove 12 so that the embroidering needle can move into or out of said hole 22, and each front side plate is further provided with other holes 23 and 24 which will be opposed to the above mentioned bore holes 13 and 14, respectively. On the other hand, the side plate 30 is provided with a groove 31 which opens out of the upper edge of the plate which is opposed to the above mentioned side groove 12, and also has holes 32 and 33 opposed to the above-mentioned bore holes 13 and 14, respectively.

The shuttle box of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6. As evident from these drawings, the present invention is different from the conventional shuttle box illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 in that slots and 26 are provided in said front side plate 20', the lower edges of which are located at or somewhat below the plane as of the upper surface 100 of the shuttle box body.

Another difference between the present invention and the conventional shuttle box is the use of a guide bar 50 formed by bending a steel wire such as a piano wire as is illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6 instead of using the conventional side plate on the back side. As evident from the drawings, the shape of said guide bar 50 is very simple. That is to say, said guide bar 50 has a U-shaped part 51 substantially in the middle, and is circularly bent at each end and has a round hole 52 formed at each tip. The entire length of the guide bar 50 is substantially equal to that of the conventional side plate 30. Said guide bar 50 is mounted on the side of the shuttle box body 1 by a bolt 42 in each round hole 52 with the U-shaped bent part 51 opposed to the lateral groove 12. Most of the length of the wire except the end parts is located above the upper surface 10c of the shuttle box body and thus 4. a clearance is left between said guide bar and said upper surface 10c.

When the shuttle moves up and down while being guided on both sides by the side plate 20 on the front side and the guide bar 50 on the back side, the two slots 7 25 and 26 in the side plate 20 and the clearance between the guide bar 50 and the upper surface 10c of the shuttle box body will not only not adversely affect the action of the shuttle passing through the loop formed in the front thread passed through the embroidering needle but also will allow the bottom dust to be pushed away rather than be deposited at the shaded areas A in FIG. 1 by the vertical reciprocation of the shuttle (in FIG. 1, the vertical reciprocation positions of the shuttle are designated by the reference numbers and 60','respectively). The dust -will be pushed out through the two slots 25 and 26 and the clearance between the guide bar 50 and the upper surface 10c of the shuttle box body and the shuttle will always operate smoothly.

What is claimed is:

1. A shuttle box for embroidered lace machines, comprising a shuttle box body having an inclined upper face, a front side plate on one side of said shuttle box body and extending along the shuttle box body and having two slots therein, one near the upper end of the inclined surface and one near the lower end of the inclined surface, said slots having the upper edge above the level of the inclined surface and having the lower edge no higher than the level of the inclined surface, and a wire guide bar on the other side of said shuttle box having the ends attached to the shuttle box body and having substantially all the portion intermediate the ends at a level above the level of the inclined surface, there being a clearance between the wire and the said inclined surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,137,826 5/1915 Zahn 112-95 3,050,020 8/ 1962 Bohus 112-95 3,078,817 2/ 1963 Conrad 11295 FOREIGN PATENTS 255,590 10/ 1927 Italy. 4l2,54l 4/ 1966 Switzerland.

JOHN PETRAKES, Primary Examiner. 

